Today’s ride, Stage 5
from Trieste, Italy, is relatively short – a choice of 21 or 40 miles to
Portorose in Slovenia. The shorter version involves taking a ferry from Trieste
across the bay to Muggia in Slovenia, the “Istria” part of our
Venice-Trieste-Istra eight-day self-guided biketour.

We take the longer way, and are
thrilled not to miss the seacoast. The route is predominantly on cycle paths
through well-known seaside resorts like Koper (Capodistria)
and Izola (Isola d’ Istria), to Piran (Pirano)
or adjacent Portorož (Portorose), a
spa resort on the Slovenian Riviera.

(I contemplate taking
the ferry which possibly would have enabled us to spend more time exploring
Trieste, or even better, possibly backtracking to the Miramare Castle which we
missed by taking the “hinterland” route, but decide to press on.)

Of course, what went
down into Trieste must come up. But, after a really steep city street we climb
(I walk, Eric breezes up) and following some convoluted directions (the cue
sheet warns the turn is easy to miss, so of course I miss it and have to find
Eric on the map he has put on my phone, reaching him using HangUp), we get onto
a bike trail that has a much more gentle rise more typical of a rail-trail that
we don’t mind at all. Soon, we are looking down at wonderfully scenic views, biking across a biking/pedestrian
bridge.

We
have these sort of rolling ups-and-downs but nothing too taxing. (Anthony, the
FunActive guide, had mentioned an even longer “hinterland” alternative route which passes
along the valley “Rosandra” in the back country, but I’ve learned my lesson and am not going to miss the
seacoast.)

We come to Muggia, a picturesque seacoast village (which is
where the ferry from Trieste would come). Muggia is in the Istria region but still part
of Italy (though Slovenians are a significant minority and signs are in two
languages). It is absolutely stunning to walk
around its narrow streets which all lead to a main square where the town hall
and church are. We have lunch outdoors in the Piazza Marconi, flanked by the
cathedral and town hall.

I had been concerned that the seacoast route would have a lot of
traffic, but it turns out there is a dedicated bike lane. It is fantastic.
Periodically, we come to these cement piers and promenades that serve as
beaches for sunbathers and swimmers.

We soon cross the border to Slovenia (no actual border control,
though, since both nations are part of the European Union), the route continues
predominantly on cycle paths through well-known seaside resorts like Koper (Capodistria) and Izola (Isola d’ Istria), to Portorož (Portorose),
a spa resort on the Slovenian Riviera.

Coming into Portoroz, there is a rather long climb (but what a
view of Izola!), but on a bike trail so it is gradual and comfortable to ride,
even though it seems at times to be endless. We ride through three tunnels that
had been built for the train (fun!), and at the end, find ourselves at the top
of a hill looking down into Portoroz, a city that is like San Francisco for its
hills. Our hotel, Hotel Tomi, is on one of the hills, so we make our way. (The
other two ladies who have been on our same route have been routed to their hotel
in Piran, which is a few miles beyond, as we learn when we meet up with them
again on the ride.)

The Hotel Tomi is a resort in itself, with a stunning pool (open 24 hours!) that has views down
to the sea. Our room is enormous and we have a balcony that looks over the
town. We rush down to relax in the pool for awhile.

Eric has found a very special restaurant for dinner
(also recommended in the FunActiv guide), RiziBizi The concierge makes a
reservation (we’ve learned our lesson about restaurant reservations!).

We walk to the restaurant, and discover a beach resort
with fine sand and warm, gentle sea (casinos even) that we can’t understand
isn’t as popular with jetsetters as the French Riviera. In fact, there is one
classic hotel, the Kempinski Palace, where Sophia Loren used to stay.

Portoroz actually is adjacent to Piran, another
exquisite town on the tip of the peninsula, and we walk just up to it.

As we walk, the sun is setting so picturesquely
behind Piran, and we realize this is the first
sunset we are seeing. (The other people following the self-guided route go the
extra few miles into Piran for their hotel, which I later discover on my next
biketour through Slovenia, is absolutely stunning.)

Restaurant RiziBizi, which specializes in truffles, serves one of the sensational meals that you remember forever. The restaurant has a tasting menu (from 50 to 60 E). We opt for a la carte: tuna tartar with zucchini, wasabi-reduced plum; truffle soup, the chef sends over pate, served on sticks in a plant; risotto with Adriatic scampi and truffles (the waiter brings a dish of black truffles to table and shaves them onto the dish); duck breast with wine sauce. All the selections are based on locally sourced produce.

Truffles which are found
here in Istria are an amazing delicacy – they can sell for $95 an ounce, $168
an ounce for white truffles or $2000 a pound). The waiter tells us that an
Italian engineer discovered the truffles when building Istria’s first water
distribution network (Tuscany has a longer history of truffle hunting).

I can imagine the most
devoted foodies getting on planes and coming to Rizi Bizi just for the
truffles. And they should. This is a world-class restaurant and the dining
experience has been truly memorable, with selections that uniquely reflect the
local produce, exquisitely presented.

The restaurant is
exemplary in every way – we dine on a patio with a view overlooking the
hillsides down to the sea; the service is impeccable.

The piece de resistance:
dessert consisting of chocolate mousse with truffles.

Slovenia only has about
44 km of seacoast, so these twin towns of Portoroz and Piran are very special.

Stage 6- Portorož/Piran – Poreč (43 miles/70 km)

The Hotel Tomi has one of the nicest breakfast spreads of our trip, as well as one of the prettiest breakfast rooms that opens out to the pool and the view of the town.

It’s our last day of our
eight-day Venice-Trieste-Istria self-guided bike tour! The guide book warns
that this will have the toughest climbs (but they didn’t include the hinterland
ride, so we’re not worried).

Today’s ride, 43 miles,
takes us passed the salt gardens of Secovlje where
sea salt is recovered through natural vaporization, and across the border into
Croatia (where we do need to present passports at border control). The route,
largely uphill (but not bad, after all, we have been toughened up by our
hinterland ride), travels through the Croatian part of Istria, the largest
peninsula on the Adriatic on the way to Porec,
the most important coastal city on the west coast of Istria.

There
are also sections where we go along the seacoast, through these camping resorts
where it seems people stay for a month or two at a time (Europeans have longer
vacations than Americans). Amazingly, as I munch on an ice cream bar and watch
the people frolic in the water, I meet up with the two ladies who are following
our same tour. Makes you realize what a small world it is!

We
come through Novigrad, a lovely village that seems to have a sense of humor.
The old town center is on a small island (there is actually a barricade) and it
has a medieval city wall. There are examples of Byzantine, Franconian, German,
Venetian, Neopolitan, Austro-Hungarian and Italian architecture. As we walk
into the main square, the small streets that lead off it have a canopy of
brightly colored umbrellas. And the town hall is decorated with balloons.

The ride is scenic,
mostly along seacoast (and through camping resorts), mostly on bike trails
until we leave Novigrad and cross a long bridge. Then it comes to a 90-degree
turn up a steep road. Without any momentum, I walk up the first section of the
3 km climb but am proud of myself for biking the rest.

It is a long, long climb but it is on a rail-trail
(gravel) so isn’t so bad, and compared to our 4th day riding (in the
hinterland), this was a piece of cake.

We follow our guide book to where it recommends we visit Grotta Baredine, a cave about 10 km from Porec, described as “the first speleological object and the first geomorphological natural monument to be valorized for sightseeing” (www.baredine.com). We are just in time for the 5 pm English-language tour, which would take hour, but we are concerned about getting into Porec too late, so we move on.

This was a missed opportunity, I am sure. (One of the advantages of a guided tour is that the guide knows to move the group along to take advantage of such sightseeing experiences).

Eric finds the Aba Restaurant – all the tables outside are already reserved, but we are accommodated in the charming dining room inside. We enjoy a dish with noodles with meat and truffle oil that delectable.

The Hotel Porec where we
stay is very pleasant and well situated, both to wander into the old city and
to get to the bus station (literally behind the hotel) in the morning where
Eric will catch a bus (booked over flixbus.com) back to Venice airport and I
will catch a bus to get to my next biketrip, a guided tour of Slovenia, that
starts in Ljubljana.

It’s pouring rain the entire day,
and I think to myself how lucky it is that this is not a bike day.

Self-Guided vs. Guided BikeTrips

The self-guided trips
seem to pack in more riding in a day (though, obviously, FunActive offered
alternatives that would have cut our mileage in half) and less sightseeing. A
guide would have made sure we visited the Miramare Castle and got us there in
time and organized our ride to have more time in Trieste, and gotten us to the
caves in a more timely way to visit and still get into Porec by late afternoon.
But self-guided has its own advantages: we stop where we want, linger over
lunch, leave when we want, and each day offers our own adventure we share.

Booking through
Biketours.com, which offers a fantastic catalog of bike trips (mainly in
Europe), enabled me to link up two tours operated by two different companies:
this self-guided Venice-Trieste-Istria trip which ended in Porec, Croatia on
September 1, operated by FunActive, and an “Emerald Tour” guided bike tour of
Slovenia that started in Ljubljana on September 1 operated by a Slovenian
operator, Helia. The BikeTours.com agent pointed me to Road2Rio.com to figure
out the transfers. Through that site, I found FlixBus.com which I could take to
Ljubljana, and Eric could catch a bus that took him directly to Venice
International Airport (the tour company also offered a transfer to Venice by
ferry) and I could get to my next tour.

The tour company was
great about sending travel documents, including a list of hotels and details
and directions how to get to the first hotel in Venice (the public
transportation system is excellent and inexpensive).

The rental bikes they
provided were excellent and provide a mileage counter (to help with
navigation), panniers, a handlebar pack with to put the cue sheets. We used the
21-speed hybrid bike; e-bikes are available.

The hotels provided were excellent, each one a delightfully charming inn – most significantly, well located in the Old City, in proximity to the trail and whatever we were supposed to see. Tour documents were excellent as well.

FunActive also provided
local telephone numbers for assistance. In each town they listed a bike shop
should we have needed it. The cue sheets and trail maps they provided (though a
bit confusing until we got the hang of it) included locations for photos, food,
sightseeing, and the alternate routes, ferry and train connections as needed,
as well as pinpointing where the different hotels were we were staying.

Each morning, we put out
our luggage in the lobby which magically appeared when we arrived at our next
hotel.

Significantly, the tour
was an excellent value, averaging about $125-150 pp per day.